Ahmedabad: A 25-year-old Gujarati died in a road accident about 12,000km away from his home, in Canada, and now his family is waiting for his body to be brought back to Dashela village in Gandhinagar district. Hiren Asodiya was among the three Indians killed on Oct 18 in the accident near Sicamous in British Columbia, a province on Canada’s western end.Hiren had been living in Canada for the past five years to pursue higher studies.According to the family, Hiren spoke to his mother on the phone on Oct 18, shortly before leaving with a friend to attend a birthday party. The journey ended in tragedy when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a tow truck.Family members said they were devastated by the news of Hiren’s death and were struggling to come to terms with the loss. His father, Babu Parmar, broke down before media persons on Monday. He appealed to central govt to help bring his son’s body back to India.“It has been a week since the accident, but we have still not been able to bring our son’s body home,” Parmar said.The accident involved a Mercedes passenger van and a tow truck. According to reports, the van was travelling west when it collided with the tow truck as the latter turned left towards a truck stop. Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s accident investigation unit is investigating the accident.The delay in repatriating Hiren’s body has added to the family’s distress. His relatives have urged the Centre to coordinate with Canadian authorities and expedite the formalities required to bring the body home.
